San Francisco, 2006.
The ground falls away beneath her feet
Is she awake
or is she asleep
Could she be dreaming
dreaming this life
Her lover’s leaving
In goes the knife
The nightmare begins to breathe
The sadness blows her off the ground
She’s loved him so long
She cannot look down
But now she’s flying
She’s suddenly free
Terror subsides, and
the girl becomes me
I lost my love
and now I am found.
Everyone talks too much
In the new foster home
I am assigned to.
Everyone wants to know
Every detail of your day,
Your date,
Your life
Had I know it would be this way
I would have faked a
Language barrier
Even if it meant
Sacrificing my pride.
When everyone fights,
It’s even worse;
We are encouraged to voice our feelings,
Thoughts,
Reasoning
As if I could think straight
In a rage.
Everyone is all touchy-feely
As if they could cure
Two decades of my pain
With a hug
(I know it’s a start, but—)
They think I’m rude
When I cannot reciprocate
When I cannot talk when I am mad
Or return an embrace
They must learn
That I was just not built that way.
They should not judge;
I am not the only student in this house.
When their intrusive chatter
Grows too loud
I wonder if their own son,
Who lives halfway around the world
In my house,
Has discovered the eerie,
Liberating feeling
Of living without sound.
Birds, San Francisco, 2006. Photographed by Pierra C. Labrador
magpie of kawaii 